Cowabunga! The 1987 hit, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, featuring the world’s four favorite crime fighting, pizza-loving turtles, is making its return to Nickelodeon. According to Comicbook, by the end of the month, all 193 episodes of the beloved cartoon will be available to watch for those with access to Nickelodeon owned/managed channels like Paramount+.
Over ten seasons, from 1987 to 1996, four turtles turned mutants by a mysterious ooze, work together to fight against threats to New York City. Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo, all differentiated by their orange, purple, red, and blue bandanas and diverse personalities, are trained in ninjutsu by Master Splinter, a mutant rat affected by the same ooze. The 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was such a success, it has been built into a franchise including several movies; the first one being released just three years after the show’s first airing.
The official announcement of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ return to Nickelodeon was made at San Diego’s 2023 Comic Con, held this past week. The show’s return to Nickelodeon comes months after Paramount’s announcement and trailer for the franchise’s new film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Via Comicbook, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman (Heavy Metal 2000) announced at Comic Con, “We just found out today… Nickelodeon and Paramount have secured the rights to broadcast the original cartoon series.” In 1984, Eastman and Peter Laird (Casey Jones), created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics, which proved to be such a huge success, the animated series debuted shortly after. In the nearly 40 years since the comics’ creation, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has brought in millions through the show and movies’ success and variety of TMNT merchandise.
It’s the year of the turtle for Nickelodeon, as fans can look forward to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles returning to Nickelodeon and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem coming to theaters August 2.